AAUDE Data Sharing Guidelines and Confidentiality Rules

AAUDE Data Sharing Guidelines and Confidentiality Rules
9/29/2011
General Introduction
The purpose of the Association of American Universities Data Exchange (AAUDE) is to
facilitate and coordinate the gathering and exchange of data and information primarily for and
among its members, and to continually enhance efficiency and data consistency in collecting and
exchanging data. AAUDE values free exchange of timely and accurate information while fully
appreciating the privacy and confidentiality requirements involved.
Certain data exchange items are clearly public in nature for which unimpeded use and display of
their data are appropriate and should be encouraged. Other exchange items contain sensitive
information that exchange participants consider as confidential, in which case the privacy of
individuals and the confidentiality of member institutions need to be protected.
To encourage maximum participation in AAUDE data exchanges among member institutions,
participants must have confidence that they can rely on AAUDE representatives to follow
established data-sharing guidelines and rules during presentation and dissemination of
confidential data.
Thus, the overarching goal of this policy is to strike a balance between data access and
confidentiality.
Responsibility for Observing Guidelines and Rules
By participating in AAUDE, each member institution agrees to observe confidentiality of all data
so designated and to abide by all data-sharing guidelines and rules, including special rules for
individual exchange items.
Responsibility for developing and ensuring observance of data-sharing guidelines and policies is
vested with the AAUDE Council, the governing body established to develop and implement a
strategic plan and coordinate the association’s activities.
Primary responsibility for adhering to data-sharing guidelines and rules, and observance of data
confidentiality at the institutional membership level is vested with the institutional
representatives, especially the primary representative. Stated differently, the primary
representative of a member institution is ultimately responsible for ensuring appropriate use and
release of information by all people who access AAUDE data at his/her institution.
Further, each representative, whether primary or alternate, and each data user seeking permission
to access AAUDE data sources, including its data warehouse, shall be required to sign a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
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General Data Sharing Guidelines and Rules
“No Submission, No Access” Principle. Access to an exchange item is intended for those
member institutions that participate in exchanging data for that item. Institutions that do not
provide their own data shall refrain from using any such data. Non-participants in an exchange
item may be denied access.
Institutional Legal and Cultural Difference. The legal and cultural frameworks that affect
confidentiality of information vary by type of institution. For example, data sharing among
public universities tends to be less restrictive than among private universities. Users of AAUDE
data sources should be cognizant of such differences and use data accordingly.
Use of Data with Small Number of Cases. Individual identification is possible when a small
number of individuals share a single characteristic such as gender, race/ethnicity, disability
status, etc., thus breaching confidentiality. In order to prevent tracing of the identity of
individuals, AAUDE data users should not report any variable in which there are fewer than five
individuals in a cell.
Data Quality. To ensure data quality, AAUDE data users are expected to perform the
professionally required validity, consistency, and reasonability checks before using information.
Exchange Items with External Rules. If an exchange item is governed by external rules (e.g.,
NSSE), those rules should be explicitly referenced on the exchange item webpage.
Purpose of Data and Intended Audiences. The purpose of confidential data exchanged by
AAUDE is to assist in internal decision making at our universities. Some presentations of data
may be shared with the campus at large or even on public websites, but confidential data should
not be reported to an external requester even if adequately summarized.
Categories of Exchange Items by Level of Confidentiality
The degree of confidentiality of the many kinds of data shared by AAUDE varies substantially.
To balance the need for free, unimpeded use of data with the need for observing confidentiality
of data, it makes sense to group exchange items into categories and establish data-sharing
guidelines and rules appropriate for each category. The data-sharing guidelines and rules are
designed to minimize the potential risk of public disclosure of sensitive data. The four categories
of exchange items are:
1. Publicly reported data
2. Ad hoc/special requests
3. Confidential exchange items
4. Confidential items requiring special rules
Each existing AAUDE exchange item is placed in one of these four categories depending on the
level of confidentiality involved. As a new exchange item is added, the AAUDE Council will
evaluate and assign it to the appropriate category.
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1. Publicly Reported Data
The exchange items in this category are publicly available. They include: periodic surveys
conducted by the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
through the IPEDS system, surveys by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other data
collection agencies such as the AAUP. The publicly reported exchange items are listed in the
attachment to this report.*
These exchange items are not subject to AAUDE’s specific data-sharing guidelines and
confidentiality rules. However, data users are expected to: (a) observe the collection agency’s
confidentiality rules and cautionary notes, and (b) not publish any of these data before they are
publicly released by the collection agency.
2. Ad Hoc/Special Requests
Member institutions regularly send various inquiries and special requests to Exchange
participants. Such inquiries and special requests are not deemed confidential unless specified by
the inquiring or the responding institution.
An institution that conducts an inquiry or a special request is expected to share appropriate
summaries of the results of the inquiry or special request with the Exchange group as soon as it
compiles the responses.
Such a summary should not be issued with both institution names and their corresponding
AAUDE codes in order to restrict distribution of these codes.
3. Confidential Exchange Items
This category of exchange items contains sensitive information that Exchange participants have
defined as confidential. Thus, establishment and observance of data-sharing guidelines and rules
are essential. The confidential exchange items are listed in the attachment to this report.*
Users should observe the following guidelines when using data from confidential exchange
items:
a) Use aggregated data (such as mean, median, range) in reports when appropriate and
possible.
b) Use only codes (but not the AAUDE code), and not names of institutions when reporting
individual institutional data.
c) Identify an institution as a member of a known category of institutions comprising a
given set of confidential data in a report (for example, public research university, private
research university, land-grant university, etc.).
d) An institution may be identified by name or any publicly available and recognizable code
(e.g. FICE code) when reporting institution-specific data only if prior approval has been
obtained from that institution.
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A brief statement acknowledging the source of data and any restrictions associated with the
data should be incorporated into the prefatory sections of any reports and/or presentations
that use AAUDE data.
Note: Data may be shared at a finer level of detail with the highest ranks of university
administration, as these officials are presumed to understand confidentiality policies and be
able to honor AAUDE restrictions. As the composition of the audience becomes less secure
and/or the risk of confidential information increases, the rules on permissible data
presentation should be tightened (e.g., requiring the aggregation of data from a minimum
number of peer institutions). The following table shows guidelines for acceptable use by
audience.
Guidelines for Acceptable Uses of Analysis and Summaries of AAUDE Data by Audience
A. Board of Trustees B. Governance
and Senior Campus Groups and Other
Use of Analysis and Summary Data
Officers
Campus Officers
1. Institution's own data Institutional decision
2. Data aggregated within groupings
of at least three institutions and
institutions are not identified in the
analysis/presentation
3. Data aggregated within a peer
grouping of at least three
institutions and the institutions are
identified in the analysis
4. Data from specific institutions that
are either not identified or their
identities are masked in the
analysis-specific data from
unidentified or masked institutions
5. Data from institutions that are
identified in the
analysis/presentation
Agreement that presentation use is acceptable.
Agreement that presentation use is acceptable,
but distribution of hard copy should be done
with extreme caution
Use with extreme caution
4. Confidential Exchange Items with Special Rules
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C. Campus-at-large
or Public
Generally
unacceptable.
Consult caretaker or
Coordinator
Not acceptable in
any circumstances
Some AAUDE exchange items contain such sensitive and/or confidential data that they require
special rules to govern their dissemination. The confidential exchange items with special rules
are listed in the attachment to this report.*

The guidelines and rules listed under Category 3 above also apply to the exchange items in this
category (i.e., Category 4). In addition, each exchange item in this category has special rules that
must be observed. The webpage of each of these exchange items should be consulted for the
specific guidelines and rules that govern the use and dissemination of data from that exchange
item.
Special rules are proposed by the caretaker of an exchange item, assisted by a working group
established to develop those rules. The AAUDE Council then approves the special rules and
posts them on the webpage of the exchange item.
* This statement will eventually be replaced by the web address of the page where the exchange
items are listed.
GT
03/30/2009
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ATTACHMENT
Categories of Exchange Items by Level of Confidentiality
1. Publicly Reported Data
� AAUP Faculty Salaries
� IPEDS Fall Enrollment
� IPEDS Completions
� IPEDS Human Resources
� IPEDS Institutional Characteristics
� IPEDS Finance
� NSF R&D Expenditures
� NSF Obligations
� Tuition and Required Fees
� NSF Graduate Student Support
� Honors and Awards
� Annual Financial Report, Organization Charts, and Fact Books
2. Ad Hoc/Special Requests
3. Confidential Exchange Items
� Faculty Profile by CIP
� CUPA Administrative Salaries
� AAUDE Enrollment by Program
� Delaware Teaching Load and Cost Survey
� Graduate Assistant Stipends
� First-time Freshman Profile
� Undergraduate Time-to-Degree
� CSRDE Graduation and Retention Rates
� Current Developments Survey
4. Confidential Exchange Items with Special Rules
� Faculty Salaries by CIP Code
� AAUDE Survey of Faculty Benefits
� Faculty Surveys
� Graduating Senior Survey
� Graduate Student Surveys
� National Survey of Student Engagement
� Alumni Surveys
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